Charlie Adlard
The Walking Dead #97-99 get second printings, landscape covers
The milestone 100th issue of The Walking Dead sold more than 380,000 copies — that’s without counting the second printing — making it the bestselling comic in 15 years. Now for an encore, Skybound and Image Comics are sending the first three issues of Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s “Something to Fear” storyline back to press. For the second printing, Adlard has created a landscape image so that the covers of Issues 97-99 come together to show the new villain Negan and his baseball bat Lucille.
The three issues are available for order now (Diamond codes JUN128147, JUN128148 and JUN128149) for release Aug. 22.
Record-breaking Walking Dead #100 gets second printing, new cover
On the heels of this weekend’s announcement that the 100th issue of The Walking Dead has sold more than 380,000 copies, more in initial orders than any other comic since 1997, Image Comics has released Charlie Adlard’s cover for the second printing. The illustration provides readers with another look at the villainous Negan and “Lucille,” who play central roles in the milestone issue. We’ll just leave it at that …
The second printing (Diamond code JUN128066) is available for order now.
Comics A.M. | The Walking Dead climbs atop bookstores sales chart
The Walking Dead, Vol. 16
Retailing | Although the 16th volume of The Walking Dead wasn’t released until June 19, 11 days’ worth of sales was enough to propel the latest collection of the horror series by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard to the top of BookScan’s chart of graphic novels sold in bookstores June. Four volumes of the popular series, including the first one, appear in the Top 20. [ICv2.com]
Publishing | Hermes Press, which has been publishing the vintage Buck Rogers collections, has announced a new Buck Rogers project: An original comic series written and drawn by Howard Chaykin, one that Publisher Dan Herman promises will be strongly reminiscent of the original. [ICv2]
Publishing| The animation studio Klasky Csupo, which gave us The Wild Thornberrys and Rugrats, is branching out in a number of different directions, including print and digital comics. Its first comic is Ollie Mongo, which stars a blue zombie skateboarder. [USA Today]
Second Walking Dead Compendium due in stores Oct. 3
A second Walking Dead Compendium will arrive just in time for Halloween and, of course, the next season of AMC’s The Walking Dead TV series. The massive volume, collecting issues #49-96 of the Walking Dead comic book, arrives Oct. 3 and retails for $59.99.
Robert Kirkman told USA Today it’s his favorite format for the comic. “It’s just such a big, huge book that really offers a lot of bang for your buck,” he said. “The idea of having Volume 1 and 2 sitting next to each other on a reinforced shelf really excites me.”
Like its predecessor, it collects eight trade paperbacks into one 1,068-page volume. It also sports a similar cover to the first volume, featuring the main characters at the top and “zombiefied” mirror images of them below.
Check out the full cover by Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn after the jump.
Final variant cover revealed for The Walking Dead #100
Entertainment Weekly has revealed the final variant cover — the magazine says it’s the twelfth, but by my count its the tenth total — for the landmark 100th issue of The Walking Dead. The cover, by Robert Kirkman’s former Battle Pope collaborator Matthew Roberts, will be available only to people who buy tickets for “The Walking Dead Escape obstacle course, held next month at at San Diego’s Petco Park during Comic-Con International. Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment imprint will give the comic free to “survivors,” “walkers” and spectators.
Roberts’ cover joins those previously revealed from Charlie Adlard, Todd McFarlane, Bryan Hitch, Marc Silvestri, Sean Phillips, Frank Quitely and Ryan Ottley. The 100th issue of The Walking Dead arrives July 11.
Drive around in a Hyundai covered with Walking Dead bodies
When we wrote last week about Hyundai’s offbeat cross-promotion with Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint to celebrate the 100th issue of The Walking Dead, we knew it involved a sweepstakes to win an Elantra GT — we just didn’t know which Elantra GT. No, it’s not the customized zombie-proof car with deadly cowcatcher that Kirkman discussed in the video (so push those commuting fantasies out of your had). It’s actually — well, if not better then arguably more macabre.
It turns out the sweepstakes winner will be the proud owner of an Elantra GT hatchback (above) wrapped in Charlie Adlard’s cover art for the landmark 100th issue. Yes, the one that features Rick Grimes standing amid the corpses of every prominent character who’s died in the series to date. So when you lift the latch on the driver’s door, you’ll be … pulling a piece of Jim’s skull? It’s probably best not to think where the gas tank is …
Although we caught glimpses of the Kirkman-designed Hyundai Zombie Survival Machine last week, you can now get a better look below. Or, if you’re attending Comic-Con International next month, you can see the real thing.
Skybound to sell Walking Dead Governor T-shirts at Comic-Con
Robert Kirkman and Skybound are determined to make the celebration of The Walking Dead‘s 100th issue next month at Comic-Con International a memorable one, complete with “The Walking Dead Escape” obstacle course, seven variant covers and now, The Hollywood Reporter reveals, an exclusive T-shirt featuring a fan-favorite character.
The shirts feature Charlie Adlard’s illustration of the Governor, the villainous leader of Woodbury, Georgia, with his infamous cry, “Kill Them All!” They’ll be available for $25 ($27 for XXL) beginning July 11 at the Skybound booth. Check out the T-shirt design below.
Sean Phillips reveals his variant cover for The Walking Dead #100
"The Walking Dead" #100 variant cover, by Sean Phillips
Even as Comic Book Resources exclusively premieres Bryan Hitch’s variant cover for The Walking Dead #100, Sean Phillips (Criminal, Fatale) unveils his own painted variant for the milestone issue of the horror series. Better still, the artist has pulled back the curtain on his process, from initial sketch to reference photos to finished work.
The Hitch and Phillips variant covers join those previously released from Frank Quitely, Todd McFarlane, Ryan Ottley and Marc Silvestri, as well as the wraparound cover by series artist Charlie Adlard. The 100th issue, by Robert Kirkman, Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, arrives July 11, just in time for Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Check out Phillips’ full cover below, and visit his blog to get a glimpse of his process.
Ottley, McFarlane, Quitely and Silvestri cover The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead #100, by Todd McFarlane
The Hollywood Reporter has debuted the variant cover created by Invincible artist Ryan Ottley for the landmark 100th issue of The Walking Dead, the acclaimed horror series by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn. The variant joins those newly revealed from Todd McFarlane, Frank Quitely and Marc Silvestri, as well as the wraparound by Adlard.
“When Robert asked me to draw a cover for The Walking Dead, he said the magic words: ‘draw whatever you want.’ So I was totally excited to do something ‘action-y’ with Michonne and her sword,” Ottley said. “She’s always been my favorite character in the book, and soon to be in the TV show as well. And it’s always fun drawing zombie gore, especially with swords!”
Comic Book Resources will reveal Bryan Hitch’s variant cover Tuesday morning. Another by Sean Phillips will likely debut elsewhere. The Walking Dead #100 arrives July 11.
Kirkman and Ottley’s Invincible should reach its 100th issue in January. Check out the covers by Ottley, Quitely and Silvestri below (sorry, TV Guide ran McFarlane’s postage-stamp size).
Comics A.M. | The Walking Dead continues bookstore domination
The Walking Dead, Compendium One
Publishing | Continuing its domination of the graphic novel sales in bookstores, The Walking Dead laid claim to seven of the Top 10 spots on BookScan’s April chart. The series, by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, took the first four positions. What’s more, 12 of the Top 20 graphic novels were volumes of The Walking Dead. [ICv2.com]
Publishing | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson talks to Right Stuf director of marketing and communications Alison Roberts about that company’s announcement earlier this week that it will be publishing the first three volumes Hetalia: Axis Powers as a print-on-demand books. The series was originally licensed by Tokyopop, which is co-branding the books with Right Stuf. [MTV Geek]
The Walking Dead #100 cover gruesomely remembers the fallen
Skybound has provided Robot 6 with Charlie Adlard’s corpse-strewn cover for the 100th issue of The Walking Dead, which depicts every prominent character who’s died in the acclaimed series.
“You can’t see it, but (hero cop) Rick is actually holding a birthday cake in his hand,” creator Robert Kirkman told USA Today. “Or, I guess, his only hand.”
The anniversary issue arrives July 11 from Image/Skybound, marking what Kirkman hopes is only the first of such major milestones. “I really do want to do this for decades,” he tells the newspaper. “I’m thrilled that it still feels like I have a full tank of gas.”
ECCC | A round-up of announcements from the convention
Revival
The Emerald City Comicon wrapped up yesterday in Seattle, with plenty of announcements from attending publishers. Here’s a round-up of news from the show:
• Image Comics officially announced Revival by Tim Seeley ad Mike Norton, the title we teased all last week. Seeley described the book as “rural noir,” and it is set in his home state of Wisconsin: “Both Mike and I grew up in small towns, he in Tennessee, me in Wisconsin. We both hated the towns we were from as teenagers and young adults and got the hell out,” Seeley told CBR. “But, now that we’re both older, we can look on those towns with more understanding and affection. Central Wisconsin is a really interesting place. It’s like concentrated America. It has all of the strengths and all of the weaknesses. All of the good stuff, and all of the conflicts on a more intimate scale. We thought it’d be the perfect setting for our story of a cop charged with policing the dead.”
• James Stokoe will write and draw Godzilla: Half Century War, which arrives from IDW in August. The miniseries is set in a different continuity than the Godzilla ongoing series by Duane Swierczyski and Simon Gane.
• Writer Christos Gage will team with artist Jorge Lucas for Sunset, an original graphic novel from Top Cow’s Minotaur Press. The story revolves around a retired Vegas mob enforcer.
ECCC | The Walking Dead Compendium hardcover debuts
The Skybound blog provides a first look at the brick-thick Walking Dead Compendium hardcover, which collects the first 48 issues of the acclaimed horror series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. Although the 1,000-plus page volume, complete with gold-embossed logo and new cover illustration by Adlard, won’t be widely available until Comic-Con International, about 100 copies will be offered this weekend for $100 each at Emerald City Comicon in Seattle (Booth #310).
Like a zombie herd, The Walking Dead overruns Amazon sales list
It will come as no surprise to anyone who pays attention to comics sales that The Walking Dead, the post-apocalyptic horror series by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard, is, well, a bit of a monster, devouring one spot after another on graphic novel charts. Take, for instance, last week’s New York Times graphic books list — its formula is as mysterious as the cause of the zombie outbreak — where collected editions of The Walking Dead accounted for three of the 10 hardcover titles and four of the 10 paperback titles.
But for a more illustrative, and up-to-the-minute, example of the book’s draw, look no further than Amazon’s list of bestselling comics and graphic novels (updated hourly). In the aftermath of Sunday’s fiery season finale of The Walking Dead television series, editions of the comic hold a staggering 24 of the Top 30 positions, a dominance led by collections of eight-year-old material. It’s also worth noting that the No. 9 slot is occupied by the 16th volume, which won’t be released in paperback until June.
As we’ve noted before, collections of The Walking Dead are perennial bestsellers, with sales of the first volume surpassing 4,000 copies in the direct market in January, more than five years after its initial release. In his analysis of 2011 bookstore sales, CBR columnist Brian Hibbs called The Walking Dead “without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest success story” of the year, pointing out that the books collectively hauled in a mind-blowing $8.7 million dollars.
First gameplay trailer arrives for Telltale’s The Walking Dead
On the heels of Friday’s eerie teaser for Telltale’s The Walking Dead episodic video game arrives a new trailer that provides a first glimpse of gameplay — and a better look at the character designs, based on the work on series artist Charlie Adlard. Stick around after the trailer to watch story consultant Gary Whitta discuss his role and emphasize that the game is based on the comic by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Adlard, and not based on the hit AMC television series.
“What we’re doing with the game version is starting completely fresh — the same universe, the same time and place, y’know, it’s in and around Atlanta at the time of the zombie apocalypse, but there’s no Rick Grimes, none of the major characters are in the game in a major way,” Whitta says. “Because how many times can you really keep telling the same story about that one set of characters? [...] So that’s the fun thing, that we didn’t just want to go back and do Rick’s story over again, so we’ve created a completely new set of characters who are — it’s a similar kind of group, it’s a disparate group, and they’re often as much as threat to themselves as the undead are, and there’s all the kind of interpersonal drama that plays out.”